I got into a habit years ago that if I took any car to be serviced or repaired from someone other then myself I would ask to have bad parts returned and an explanation of the problem. So do you guys do the same? I'll admit I didn't have too many others work on my cars but when they did I asked for bad parts back and the reason for the fix. If you tell them before they do the service/repair it has a tendency to make them pay attention. Now I don't need to see the oil or filter but anything they now fix or replace I ask for. Oh I also tell them if what they told me doesn't fix the problem then the repair is on them. Sometime it works. I never had a wheel alignment where I didn't get the results in writing . How about others here.

 

NOBODY EVER LAYS A SPANNER ON MY TOYS

I failed to proceed once on a bike, when the AA bloke got there I said
" I need a plug spanner, 10mm spanner, 6mm hex key and an umbrella please"

I fixed it at the side of the road with his tools, signed his sheet, and away.

 

I've always turned my own wrenches with the exception of a very small list of things that I'd rather pay someone else to assume the risk of the repair. It's much easier to go after a shop if the tranny frags out after a flush and fill than if I did it myself, and in those cases, I politely ask to watch, feigning curiosity and ignorance of all things mechanical.

 

I have never had anyone willing to guarantee to fix an unknown problem. ie., it won't start or the tappets are making a lot of noise. Sure, most places can change a battery or change out shims to adjust the valves. But when it turns out the starter armature is shorted or the buckets are loose in guides they are not going to give you a refund for the work and/or parts put into the job.

To answer your first question I never bring a car in without knowing what needs to be done so I don't need to see the broken part(s). Other than warranty work, I learned long ago NEVER to bring a car in for repair without EXACT knowledge and instructions of what to repair/replace. If you can't do that most shops will go on an Easter egg hunt changing out parts until they hit upon the faulty part, with a good story and excuse for each one. Look at amcdonal86's recent thread on "Blown front strut". He spent a lot of time and money at "reputable shops" and got nowhere. He finally figured it out himself and it turned out to be an easy and inexpensive repair.

 

My experience with my former Lexus dealer was that they were 100% accurate in their diagnosis of broken parts. Problem was that they always padded their labor hours by at least twice the "book" time and then the service writer would give you a 20% discount from their posted hourly labor rate for being a good customer.

I'll update this post with the link to my old thread with details of that experience.

Lexus - the relentless pursuit of your wallet.

UPDATE. Link to my Lexus experience - see Post #6: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...jaguar-150498/

My service writer was a good ol' Southern fella, Bo Hica. Urban Dictionary: BOHICA

 

I would prefer if you want that come talk to me before hand and ill show you why before, then if you want the oold parts fine. But dont show up a day later to pick up car then ask for old parts. Theyre in the dumpster, we try to keep the shop clean and uncluttered. After all we work on jaguars not old beaters..

 

The trick is, you have to be able to do your own diagnostics reliably. It's a pretty rare skill, and I do not seem to have it. Certainly most car owners do not have this skill either!

 

Back in the day, diagnosis was easy because you could usually see what broke.

Today, with all the electronics and computers, if you had to buy the necessary diagnostic equipment, you'd be broke.

 

As I may have mentioned this is probably the 1st car that I chose not to service myself. Maybe because it is a CPO car or that I am getting lazy in my old age. I have established a rapor with a dealer and am using them for my normal yearly service or any TSB/warranty issues. I had the glove box issue and told them and they ordered a new on. I asked before they installed it that they show me the old broken unit which they had to keep because of the TSB repair. They said no problem and did so. I will always ask to see the removed parts . Just part of my "trust but verify" mentality. As a dealer tech you may not see the repair bill but my guess is it is billed under the book time regardless if it took less time to do. If it took more time then I suspect the service manager will start to look at the tech.

 

LMAO, no a service manager is more likely to say win some lose some. We have a joke that to come up with repair times Jaguar goes to the local pub with a book of repairs and throws darts at the board to come up with times. cause there are some serious discrepancy between what it should take and what it really takes. I give them one stars out of 5 in the workshop manuals because Im finding them wrong all the time. like a differential on a Ftype. don't have to take down the sub frame to access the passenger side front mount bolt! Theres no way to reach it without doing that. If they had actually done the job they would have found this out and added to the repair time for lowering sub frame. They corrected the repair procedure but didn't add to the repair time. Problem with these bad short pay times is that the repair times for out of warranty(Michell, Alldata etc) just take the factory times and add a little more. Many times still doesn't cover the actual time taken. So its just a perpetual shaft. Many times will get lowered but only when Jupiter and Uranus are aligned in the nigh sky will a time get raised. I could fill up paragraphs with examples, are there some over pays? yes, but few and when theyre found the time is reduced with "new workshop procedure" The Takata air bag recall is another shafting. but ill save that story for another day